This Tuesday, during the Mobile World Congress, the president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, announced the relaunch of the Barça Innovation Hub (BIHUB) and the first investment in the club's history: OLIVER.
The Club's Innovation and Knowledge Center will include a startup investment platform, with the clear goal of promoting entrepreneurial talent in the sports sector and capturing the value of its growth. The culé institution's objective is "to help these companies grow, thrive, and have a significant impact on the world".
It is no coincidence that OLIVER was chosen to kick-off this new era of BIHUB. Innovation, inclusion, and democratization are values shared by the company and the club, in addition to the constant growth and ambition to change and improve the world of football from its foundations.
Jose Gonzalez Ruzo, CEO of OLIVER, and Joan Laporta, President of FC Barcelona
The new era ahead for BIHUB will serve to multiply the Club's innovation engine in an environment where many emerging companies can adapt faster than big tech companies and solutions with great projection.
After just over two years since its launch into the market, OLIVER already works with more than 95 teams in over 20 countries, in addition to having distribution agreements with Amazon and Fútbol Emotion for all of Europe. The agreement with one of the world's biggest clubs comes at the right time for the exponential growth that has been approaching OLIVER for some time.
“The Barça Innovation Hub has shown admirable seriousness and speed of execution, and in the end, the association of the parties is natural, and together we will grow the company globally" said Gonzalez Ruzo, CEO and founder of OLIVER.
OLIVER and FC Barcelona will continue working together to bring innovation to football.
Joan Laporta stated that the mentioned investments "are the first of many that are to come", so news of this type will surely become increasingly commonplace, although today, undoubtedly, constitutes a historic fact for all the parties involved.
After the jersey presentation representing OLIVER as the club's new signing, the next announced startup was Visualfy, a company dedicated to accessibility in sports venues for people with hearing impairments.
To learn more about OLIVER, Visit our website